This Halloween, I am Going as Myself
by Sara Wolfe
Summary: Halloween was one of Danny's favorite times of year.


**Author's Note: **I have no idea how Rachel wormed her way into this story. Written for the Five-0 Frolic Halloween Hula comment fic fest. **  
><strong>

**This Halloween, I am Going as Myself**

Not many people knew that Halloween was one of his favorite times of the year. The first, of course, being Grace's birthday, but Halloween was a close second. For most people, Halloween meant candy, and costumes, and getting the pants scared off you. For Danny Williams, Halloween meant freedom.

Growing up, he'd always looked forward to the one time of year that he could just be himself. That one night when he could go out with the other kids and not have anyone stare at him like he was some kind of freak.

It had been his family's curse for generations. They weren't sure how long it had existed, or how it had even started. They'd gone through a number of theories over the years; the popular one at the moment was a drunken ancestor and a pissed-off gypsy.

Hellbeasts, they called themselves, because there was no real name for what they were. Huge, winged, lion-like creatures, Mattie had once joked that they were like cats on steroids. Danny had demanded to know how that explained the wings, but Matt had just given him a long look, telling him that not everything needed to be taken so literally. Then, he'd challenged him to a wrestling match that had dragged their brothers in, as well, nearly wrecking the house in the process.

Danny had only told one other person about his curse. After years of keeping it a secret from everyone around him, it had almost been a relief to tell Rachel everything. Even more amazing had been her reaction. Calm and accepting – Danny was sure she'd done her fair share of freaking out, but she hadn't done any of it in front of him. And she'd barely blinked when he'd explained that their children would likely share the same curse.

Grace had first manifested the curse when she was six months old. She'd grown fangs, and tiny wings, and cat-like eyes that they'd hidden behind dark sunglasses for nearly a year, claiming a sensitivity to sunlight. Over time, she'd learned to control it, learned to hide the hellbeast behind her human self, learned never to show anyone what she really was.

Until now, anyway.

Nine years old, and everyone had agreed that Grace was finally old enough to be allowed to spend Halloween in her true form. He'd never seen his daughter so excited.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Danny glanced down at his watch for the third time in nearly half an hour, glancing at the closed door that Gracie and Rachel were currently hiding behind.

"Monkey?" he called out, "are you ready, yet?"

"No, Danno!" came the impatient reply. "You gotta wait!"

"Be patient, Daniel," Rachel called back, before he could say anything."Trust me, it's going to be worth it."

"We're going to lose out on all the good candy," Danny replied, and the door opened a crack, Rachel poking her head out to shoot him a mild glare.

"Go sit in the living room," she told him, bluntly. "Do your pacing out there, where you won't make Grace nervous."

"I am not pacing," Danny protested, and Rachel pointedly, wordlessly, glanced down at the track he'd worn in the carpet along the length of the room. "Fine," he muttered, throwing up his hands in defeat and spinning on his heel toward the door. "I'm going, I'm going."

Being banished to the living room wasn't any better. If anything, his pacing was even worse because now he couldn't hear the quiet murmur of Grace and Rachel's voices behind the closed door, even with his superior hearing.

It was another twenty minutes before he heard the bathroom door opening in the distance, and he looked up as Rachel and Grace stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room. He smiled when he saw his daughter, wearing a frilly gown and a tiara. She'd only transformed part of the way, with fur along her hands, arms, and face, making her look like an overgrown kitten. Her tail peeked out from behind the gown, twitching with excitement, and her amber eyes were almost glowing in the low light of the room. Her large, feathery wings draped almost to the floor, curled against her back.

"You look beautiful, Monkey," he told her, sincerely, and Grace giggled, dropping into a curtsey that she had to have been practicing for hours to get right.

"I'm a princess heckbeast," she told him, laughing.

"Heckbeast?" he echoed, looking at Rachel for an explanation.

"She's a little too young to be a hellbeast," Rachel told him, with a small smile. "Besides, heckbeasts are the cuter, cuddlier version."

"Definitely cuddlier," Danny agreed, sweeping Grace up into a hug that had her shrieking with laughter.

"You're not ready!" she accused him, a second later, giving him a stern glare as he set her back down on the ground. "Danno, you promised."

"So I did," Danny agreed. "Give me a second, okay, Monkey?" Turning to Rachel, he raised an eyebrow at the jeans and blouse she was wearing. "And what are you supposed to be?"

"The very tired mother of a pre-teen girl," came the prompt answer. "Come on, Cat-Man, we're going to lose out on all the good candy."

Danny laughed as he made his own transformation, fur sprouting out of his skin, claws growing out of his nails. He pulled his shirt off as he felt his wings coming out of his back, spreading the enormous appendages to their full length to relieve the tension that came from holding them in check for so long.

Like Grace, he stopped his own transformation at the halfway point, although his face was distinctly more leonine than his daughters. Elongated canine teeth pushed uncomfortably in his mouth, and Rachel sighed when he tried to talk, with only a growl emerging from his throat.

"Dial it back a little, Daniel," she reminded him. "We're trying not to scare the other children out there, remember?"

He gave her a sheepish smile as he shortened the teeth to a more acceptable length, and then he presented himself to Grace with a flourish.

"Well, Monkey?" he asked, with a slight bow, his voice deepened with the inevitable, minute changes to his vocal cords. "What do you think?"

"I think we should go get candy," Grace declared, hooking her hands through both her parents' arms.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They'd been out for almost half an hour when it finally started to get dark. He could see Grace's eyes dilating to take in as much light as they could, her head swiveling wildly around as she skipped along beside him and Rachel.

Rachel had the camera up to her eyes, again, taking what had to be her hundredth picture of the night. She was documenting everything for Stan, off to Tokyo for a business trip, and Danny hoped that she had some kind of explanation ready for his and Grace's "costumes". Just because he told Rachel his secret didn't mean that he wanted the whole world to know.

They encountered the rest of the team near Kamekona's Shave Ice stand, where Grace happily accepted a raspberry flavored cup from the big man. Chin had cheated, wearing his football uniform as a costume, and Danny wasted no time in pointing it out. Kono looked absolutely stunning in a silk kimono that went all the way down to her ankles, and he sincerely hoped that they didn't have to chase any suspects, that night. And Steve –

Danny almost didn't recognize his partner in the incredibly-authentic pirate costume he was wearing. There was a very realistic scar on his cheek, stretching from the corner of his eye all the way down to his chin, one eye was hidden behind an eye patch, and heavy dreadlocks hung down to his shoulders, covering his regulation haircut.

"Looking good," he growled, and Steve started at the rough rasp of his voice.

"Danny?" he demanded, incredulously. "Damn. Where'd you get that costume?"

"Daddy made them!" Grace piped up, happily, bouncing eagerly on the balls of her feet. "Isn't he the coolest?"

"Definitely," Steve agreed, solemnly, crouching down so that he was at eye level with Grace. "And what are you supposed to be? A cat-ballerina?"

"I," Grace informed the group, with a studied seriousness, "am a princess heckbeast."

"The cuter, cuddlier version of a hellbeast," Danny interjected, giving the team Rachel's explanation, and Steve nodded at the answer.

"Well, Princess Heckbeast," he went on, still addressing Grace, "how's your candy haul looking, tonight?"

"Awesome!" Grace gushed. "We're going to take it to 5-0 headquarters to x-ray everything before I can eat it, though."

Steve gives him a wordlessly raised eyebrow, and Danny shoots him a level look in return.

"I'd rather it not be out there, either," he said, softly, "but all it takes is one psycho poisoning candy-"

"What's with you and Rachel?" Steve asked, in an abrupt change of subject that Danny didn't know if he should be grateful for, or irritated by. He went with a little bit of both.

"Halloween is a joint holiday," he explained, after a moment. "We both like taking Grace trick or treating."

"Uh huh," Steve said, with a knowing glint in his eyes, and Danny resisted the almost overwhelming urge to smack his partner upside the head.

"We're leaving, now," he said, pointedly. "See you at work, tomorrow."

He, Rachel, and Grace started off, again, filling Grace's bag with more and more candy as the night progresses. It was late by the time they finally called it quits and headed back to Rachel and Stan's palatial house, but Rachel went through the gates, alone.

"We'll be back before midnight," Danny promised her, and Rachel smiled at him.

"Be safe," she told him, and then she disappeared into the house, taking Grace's big bag of candy with her. They'd already had it checked out and declared safe, and Danny wouldn't have been surprised to find it lighter when they returned.

Danny watched her go, to make sure that she made it safely into the house, and then he and Grace piled into his Camero. They drove out of town, along a winding stretch of road out into nothingness. When they were safely out in the middle of nowhere, Danny parked the car, and he and Grace got out in the middle of a grassy field.

"Ready, Monkey?" Danny asked, and Grace's face lit up with a blinding smile.

"I'm ready," she told him, happily, dropping down onto all fours as she completely transformed.

Danny let himself fall as he completed his own transformation. Then, he bounded through the tall grass chasing after Grace, watching her frolic in the open space. If they were still in Jersey, they would have been joined by the rest of the family, surrounded by their pack. But, here in Hawaii, all they have is each other. It's all they need.

When Grace took a bounding leap, her wings beating wildly against the night sky, he found himself holding his breath in anticipation. She was weaving and bobbing madly, almost like she was drunk, but she was airborne, and he couldn't be any prouder of her.

Grace managed a clumsy summersault in midair, her paws brushing against the tall grass. Danny felt his heart leap with excitement, and a strong beat of his powerful wings carried him into the air, after his daughter. Then, he chased her through the sky, leaving the rest of the world behind them.


End file.
